Culture

Ep. 132: The Sweaty Palms Episode

This episode is all about your hands. So put you clammy, pudgy, baby-like ham hands together for these handy gadgets.

45:29 / 11 April 2009

Transcript

[ background music ]
>> I'm Molly Wood.
>> I'm Kelly Morrison.
>> I'm Jason Howell.
>> Welcome to Gadgettes, it is Friday, April 10th, 2009. And oh man, do we have a doozy for you today.
>> Oh it was the episode that wrote itself.
>> It did, yes. I don't even know what the first gadget was, all I know is that Kelly sent me an email that said I'm thinking the sweaty palms episode, and then it was all uphill from there.
>> Sometimes we need a little extra challenge in our week to come up with a theme that you know, we can find things for. But actually, this one, I think you'll find that we've done a pretty damn good job.
>> I think so, I think you're going to be impressed with today's show.
>> Cause it sounds like it could be very obscure, but really, the stories actually work for this theme.
>> It's surprisingly literal.
>> It's surprisingly literal.
[ laughter ]
And the story that inspired the sweaty palms episode is like so many other inspirational stories, all about the iPhone.
>> Oh yeah.
>> And apparently this just in, sweaty workouts are actually disabling some iPhones.
>> Yep, they're apparently terrible for the iPhone. Sweat, iPhones are drowning in sweat due to them being used at the gym.
>> You know what? And that's the way it should be, because that dude on the elliptical trainer next to me who's like yeah, [inaudible] ha ha ha.
>> Oh are you serious? Talking?
>> I don't know. I don't actually, I don't go to the gym any more, so I'm just imagining that someone who would be sweating that hard while holding an iPhone would have to be exercising.
>> Oh yeah, but they don't have to be talking on the phone. Like the iPhone, the thing about the iPhone, the thing that I find frustrating about this story is that the iPhone and the iPod Touch, this is a problem there too, they're MP3 players. So you can either afford to have two iPods, one that you take to the gym, and I know that Apple right now is sitting at home going that's what Shuffle is for, you suck.
>> Oh my God.
>> All you need to do is get a Shuffle, get an iPhone, get an iPod.
>> Just buy a Shuffle.
[ laughter ]
>> That's it.
>> Apple is sitting at home right now listening.
[ laughing ]
Being like oh I hate Molly.
>> If Apple were a person, what would Apple look like?
>> Steve Jobs I guess.
>> No I think Apple would be like a very ugly little man.
>> Apple would definitely -
>> It would be like the great and powerful Oz.
>> Oh maybe.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> With like a tiny you know, like five hair comb over. That's Apple.
>> Once on the Buzz Report we imagined Apple as like Christian Bale type figure cause we imagined him as the bad boy friend who like looks really good but is evil on the inside. Which then not long after Christian Bale had his freakout, and I'm just saying, did we call it? So anyway, according to -
>> You don't need buttons.
>> According to KPRC channel two in Houston, there has been a rash of iPhones that have been, that have crapped out as a result of getting sweat in the moisture sensors, and Apple has been refusing to fix them. Because they're like -
>> Because they're little sensors.
>> - it says don't get them wet.
>> They're like clearly you threw this in the toilet. I don't think that you were just using it while working out, and prove it.
>> Yeah.
>> That's pretty much what they're saying.
>> You got to admit, that's really, really sweaty.
>> That's pretty sweaty. Well but apparently the moisture sensors, so this is the thing about the iPhone, right, and this is what's noted in our post about it on Crave, or on iPhone Atlas blog by David Martin. He says on the iPhone, and any Apple product with a water damage sensor, unlike on other cell phones, the moisture sensors are very accessible.
>> It's true.
>> So this is a little bit more of an iPhone specific problem. On most cell phones the sensors are located underneath a removable battery, and enclosed by the cover that usually locks the battery into place. But then on the iPhone it's just at the bottom of the phone, and so it could pretty easily be set off by -
>> Oh yeah, sure.
>> - sweat on your hands.
>> But apparently there are two sensors on the Apple products, right?
>> Right.
>> So I mean are they both on the inside?
>> On the top and the bottom?
>> On the top and the bottom?
>> Well it sounds like it, so what the iPhone Atlas people were trying to figure out is whether Apple employees were voiding the warrantees if both sensors were tripped. Cause that would indicate like a dunking.
>> Right.
>> As opposed to just a sweaty hand thing.
>> Unless you've got huge hands.
>> Huge.
>> Huge, really sweaty hands.
>> So much sweat, seriously.
[ laughter ]
>> The biggest sweaty palms.
>> The sweatiest palms you've ever heard of.
>> And if you're one of those people, I don't ever want to meet you.
>> Yeah, don't shake their hand.
>> You're probably really hairy too.
>> They probably sweat all the time.
>> Yeah.
>> All the time.
>> Very, a hairy giant.
>> Huge sweaty, baby hands.
>> Giant sweaty palms, baby hands man. You know?
>> I don't think that baby hands can also be sweaty, sweaty palms baby hands?
>> That's true.
>> That's like, that's not -
>> That's like black and white.
>> Actually no, you know what? If you're talking about baby hands like on baby hands man, they almost necessarily would have to be sweaty, part of the package.
>> They would be more clammy.
>> Yeah, they're clammy and smooth.
>> And sweaty, yeah.
>> So there's a warm sweat, and then there's a cold sweat.
>> I am right this very second reliving the fateful handshake with baby hands man that led to this whole meam, and it's making me kind of sick.
>> Oh I'm so sorry. Now with that handshake, did he have cold hands or did he have warm hands.
>> No they were warm.
>> Warm and soft?
>> They were warm and clammy.
>> And limp when you shook them.
>> They were moist and soft, perfectly smooth, and I think hairless.
>> Oh man. So great to come back to the baby hands man every once in a while.
>> Anyway. As many people in the chat room have suggested, and all over the internet, if you're going to use your iPhone and your iPod Touch, which I will agree is defectively designed, at the gym, get a waterproof case.
>> Yeah.
>> Seriously.
>> Sweat-proof case.
>> Done.
>> That is pretty obvious people, pretty obvious.
>> Now when we said that this episode wrote itself -
>> We are not kidding.
>> We are not.
>> I mean how often do you see say peripherals that are related to sweaty palms? Directly related to sweaty palms.
>> After you've already chosen -
>> Right.
>> - the theme for the week.
>> Yeah. And it wasn't, and it's not like an old post, right?
>> No.
>> Like we chose the theme, and this posted on April 7th. It is as though gods themselves approved.
>> Which gods I do not know.
>> I'm not getting into that or anything.
>> No, certainly not.
>> JustinU of 404 fame posted about a mouse that apparently comes from Japan, almost certainly, that contains a built in fan for drying off your sweaty palms.
>> And again, if you are a person who needs this, you poor thing.
>> You poor thing.
>> I mean, I don't know though. It happens.
>> Yeah, you're the same person actually. If you need this -
>> Yeah.
>> You need it if you have an iPhone.
>> There's apparently a whole suite of products devoted to -
>> Yeah.
>> - clammy, sweaty, big-handed men.
>> People.
>> I'm gonna go ahead and say men.
>> And there are also -
>> Is that sexist?
>> There are also LEDs.
>> Let's just say ham hands.
>> No, not at all.
>> Mister ham hands.
>> Mister ham hands.
>> Whoever you are.
>> Oh poor Mister ham hands.
>> I know, he doesn't need to be so sweaty.
>> So now Mister ham hands can have this -
>> Can have.
>> - mouse with a built, can have, can have.
>> Mister ham hands can have.
>> Oh poor Mister ham hands. Mister ham hands, have a little mouse.
>> Here you go.
>> Oh Mister ham hands, I think you can have this now.
>> You look a little hot, would you like a little water, Mister ham hands?
>> It will help your palms.
>> Help with your hands.
[ laughter ]
>> Oh they're very big.
>> And sweaty.
>> Oh poor Mister ham hands.
[ laughter ]
>> My palms are sweating just -
>> I know.
>> I know, yeah.
>> The power of suggestion, I now have giant, sweaty, hair covered hands.
[ laughter ]
We deserve it. That is karma in action.
>> It's true.
>> Instant action, like oh yeah.
>> It's true. Look, look chat room, look at my giant sweaty hands.
>> The god of giant sweaty ham hands is like oh yeah, bitches?
[ laughter ]
>> I love it, I love ham hands, that's great.
>> We might need to write a song around ham hands.
>> Ham hands.
>> Ham hands, ham hands. Did you ever see the That's Cat show when you were in preschool?
>> No.
>> Do you remember preschool? It was a long time ago.
>> No, not really.
>> Yeah well, I'll to bring it up next time. If anyone remembers That's Cat, I've been on a quest for years to find people who remember That's Cat, That's Cat. That's all I remember of it. Anyway. I think ham hands could be adopted to that. Ham hands, ham hands. Exactly, my point. Shall we move on?
>> I think we shall.
>> I've gone on long enough. So as if that weren't enough, if it weren't enough that we have an iPhone that's breaking because of sweaty palms, and a mouse that alleviates sweaty palms-ness, we have apparently a new, although kind of theoretical at this point, TV remote that you can theoretically change the channel with your bare hands. Your sweaty, large, hairy -
>> Ham hands.
>> - ham hand, if you are that kind of person.
>> Those ham hands don't even have to touch the TV.
>> That's right, you don't have to -
>> That's the best part.
>> Those ham hands don't have to worry about sweating out the remote control.
>> This is the ultimate solution for the ham handed.
[ laughter ]
The TV remote control of the future wherein you control your television just by waving your ham hands in the air.
>> Yes.
[ laughter ]
>> Oh man.
>> Wave your ham hands in the air. I love this picture. They just look like they're testifying with their ham hands.
>> Oh yeah, totally.
^M00:09:46
>> Oh yeah, it totally does. Or like their, it's a zombie attack, like they're drawn to the bright lights of the television. Arghhh, must put on CNN.
>> But it's basically they're looking into this idea, cause there is so much sort of touch, or motion control now happening in the, actually I pitched this as a possible session for CES next year, cause I'm on the like CES advisory panel thing. And I was like we should do, I think someone on Twitter came up with the idea for doing a whole session on motion control in the living room. And dude, I'm telling ya, if I could just like wave my little ham hand and make the TV change, awesome.
>> That would be incredible. This is just something, I can't believe it doesn't exist already, now that I think about it.
>> I know.
>> Cause the remote control is just the cause of so much -
>> Sweat.
>> So much sweat, and also just so much -
>> Anguish.
>> Anguish, thank you -
>> Yes.
>> - that's the word I'm looking for, at least in my household.
>> Yes.
>> Especially with my eighty five year old father. If he could wave his hands instead of trying to figure out how to use the remote control every day.
>> Oh I know. Every time we go out of town and have a house sitter, I have to write a page on how to use the TV.
>> Oh I know, it's hard.
>> Like it's this remote and then it's this button -
>> The order of buttons to click, yeah.
>> - and then there's this button right there. Yeah, absolutely.
>> Yeah, totally.
>> I love it.
>> It's a beautiful idea.
>> Bring it.
>> So where is it now? I mean is this anywhere near being a reality? Or is this just -
>> No, I think -
>> No, it's totally intox, yeah it's -
>> A work in progress. A gesture tech.
>> Speaking of where is it, gesture tech, where is Microsoft surface computing devices, or any kind of sort of you know, this cool multi-touch portable device. People have gotten tired of waiting for the personal version, and over at Maximum PC they built their own -
>> That's pretty cool.
>> - surface like computing device. It's pretty awesome. They used office shelf parts, a PS3 eye camera, a small form factor desktop PC and a mix of open source software, and other readily available apps to run the whole thing, and then they basically just created their own tabletop multi-touch jobby that they can run with their ham hands.
[ laughter ]
>> That guy has baby hands, clearly. Sorry. I'm impressed.
>> It looks like it works really well, I mean just from this video.
>> Yeah.
>> It's pretty awesome.
>> Looks cool.
>> Apparently, I did not know this, but there's a rumor that Apple will have like a ten inch portable multi-touch device coming out. I don't know if they just mean the Apple tablet that everyone's been talking about.
>> That would be pretty -
>> This is impressive though. Sometimes I -
>> It's cool.
>> - feel like a total loser fake geek when I see what the dudes at Maximum PC do. Oh you built surface? I made -
>> Is that all?
>> I made fart jokes on Gadgettes one day.
[ laughter ]
>> I [inaudible] some applications on my iPhone the other day, I'm pretty [inaudible] about myself. It's awesome.
>> I want to have a multi-touch surface table.
>> I know, this thing looks cool.
>> Hey.
>> There's a baby here.
>> Get in here.
>> Oh that is the cutest baby, we have to have baby time. We have to have baby time on the air.
>> Come on, get in here. It is our former CNET TV executive producer, Mark Larkin, with his baby Stella.
>> And hopefully he'll -
>> Oh yay. There is not a better show to have baby time on.
>> That is the cutest baby ever.
>> Stella visits Gadgettes. Hi little nubbin, hello. Can you hold her up for the chat room?
>> Yeah.
>> They want to see her.
>> There we go. Hey.
>> Ohh. Nice work you two.
>> Thank you. We tried really hard.
>> Yeah, you succeeded.
>> Oh my goodness, you little nubbin.
>> She's like what do you have on your head, what do you have on TV?
>> She's like I'm on TV, she looks so happy right now.
>> I know.
>> Oh awesome.
>> She's like I'm famous.
>> All right, we're gonna make some rounds.
>> Oh thanks for visiting.
>> Oh man, thanks for coming by.
>> See you gadgettes.
>> Bye baby Stella.
>> Bye baby Stella.
[ laughter ]
>> Oh man, we need to have babies on every week.
>> We need more babies.
>> Especially babies like that.
>> So for the audio podcast that's just gonna be like two minutes of ohh aww.
[ laughter ]
>> I would like to take this moment to remind you that the Gadgettes podcast can be see in video form at CNETTV.com.
>> Witness for yourself the cuteness that is the baby that just came in the room.
[ laughter ]
>> Click on audio podcast on the right, and you can actually watch the video, just fast forward to this point.
>> Oh awesome.
>> That's good.
>> Yeah, she's cute.
>> Oh where were we? Oh we have a good one, this is a good one. Speaking of back to sweaty palms.
>> Yeah, oh yeah, from babies to sweaty palms.
>> From babies to sweaty palms.
>> You know.
>> New software developed at the University of Tampare [assumed spelling] in Finland, I know I said that wrong, cause Finnish is like whatever -
>> It's crazy.
>> It's crazy talk. But this new software is attempting to bring Braille to touch enabled mobile devices. Like basically using onscreen vibration that would enable Braille reading on touch screen devices.
>> That's so hard to imagine, but how cool.
>> Yeah, that is just outstanding.
>> Vibration, like Braille, the dots seem so small, I don't understand how vibration would you know, bring the dots to the surface.
>> Well you have to swipe.
>> Well apparently there's a Piezzo electric, which I've never heard of before, layer that displays quote, a raised dot on the touch screen. There's a single intense vibration, and an absent one with a longer and weaker pulse. Apparently there are two different methods, the first requires swiping fingers across the screen to read each of the six dots in a two by three matrix in Braille. I don't know, I don't even understand.
>> I know, people, it turns out people are really smart.
>> Really, I know.
>> Some people are very smart.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you imagine? I know, someone's just sitting there like well what we could do is use our Piezzo electric layers and then we could just enable the vibrations, and you would swipe across it, and then there would be a longer and weaker pulse, and it would be duh duh duh.
>> Just a quick poll, have either of you heard the word Piezzo electric?
>> I have actually.
>> I have heard it.
>> Yeah.
>> But I don't know if I knew what it was.
>> We've heard it some Tom. There was some story recently that involved Piezzo electric, and Tom said it like nineteen times, cause he was really into it.
>> I kind of want to say it nineteen times too.
>> Well yeah.
>> Piezzo electric, Piezzo electric, okay, I'll stop.
>> Anyway.
>> You only made it two into that one.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm bored.
>> That is an outstanding use of -
>> It's really cool. I mean Kelly you were saying earlier this would be really cool on something like the Kendall or you know, like that.
>> Any kind of yeah, I mean any kind of touch screen, I mean you could -
>> Dealy bob.
>> Any kind of dealy bob frankly would you know.
>> Yeah, right? Any doodly doo.
>> I know that would be pretty awesome.
>> Flippedy flap you know?
>> Yeah, or whatchamacallit, dingaling.
>> No not that.
>> Hunter Joe in the chat room goes way back to one of my favorite movies and says he remembers the device that David Strathern had in Sneakers. Remember, have you guys seen Sneakers?
>> No.
>> Oh yeah I have actually.
>> He had a dealy bob kind of like that, that had diddley doo.
>> He had a diddley doo on the dealy bob, like that?
>> And he was like reading porn on it, like it was -
>> He was reading porn in Braille?
>> I think it had actual raised, if I remember correctly, it was almost, it had more like pins that just came up and went back down -
>> Yes.
>> - remember like up and down when he was reading Playboy.
>> For the articles.
>> Love that movie. For the articles, yeah.
>> It's a good movie.
>> Totally.
>> I don't remember that.
>> Oh you should rent it, Sneakers, awesome.
>> Okay, will do.
>> All right, moving on to I believe our last sweaty palms device before we get into segment time.
>> And can you believe that we came up with this many people? I mean you know.
>> I mean you're impressed, right? Because this was a good show.
>> Yeah, I'm impressed. Even so far you just can't believe it, can you.
>> It was so on topic, we didn't even have to do that thing -
>> Yeah, where we only kind of sort eluded to -
>> - stretching -
>> Where we realize half way through the show that we're actually on the wrong theme, and then you kind of have to switch to a different theme because you know.
>> One of our stories is actually an April Fool's joke, like none of that happened.
>> It almost happened though. We almost had a joke.
>> Ooh we did, that's true.
>> But we caught it this time.
>> We caught it.
>> Can't fool us every time people.
>> Research people.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, actually to be fair, this last gadget is a slight stretch.
>> Is a little yeah, a slight stretch.
>> But it would -
>> After all that.
>> The only one.
>> But it's really cool.
>> And it would make your palm sweaty if you carried it around, and it is probably imbued with the sweat of others, because they are purses, like clutches, little tote bags made out of computer keyboard keys.
>> Yeah.
>> I mean sure a lot of you are like oh yeah, I totally thought of that and I was gonna make one myself in my craftiness. But these are really cute too, they're not just keyboards, they're cute in really cool colors.
>> Surprisingly cute, I kind of like the orange one.
>> And it's called a key bag.
>> Key bag, right?
>> I just keep thinking ho bag.
>> I keep thinking D bag.
[ laughter ]
Maybe I shouldn't.
>> Oh what is wrong with me? Just send me to the 404.
>> I know.
>> I didn't say it, but now you all know. Okay. The key bag is really cool.
>> It took me that long to figure it out. Anyway.
>> Let's take a break.
>> Yeah.
[ background music ]
>> That was okay Eric, but I like the [inaudible] podcast a lot better. I mean [inaudible] we're talking about here, and it's not like Eric Franklin is nobody, cause we're talking about testing stuff.
>> Okay. For more crazy ramblings like these from Dome No [assumed spelling] and insightful commentary from myself, Eric Franklin, check out the Inside CNET Labs podcast at cnet.com/insidecnetlabs.
>> Oh those guys are awesome.
>> They sure are. That's my very favorite spot, I have to say.
>> It is mine too, because it's so how they are.
>> Yeah, exactly.
>> Exactly. It's so appropo [assumed spelling].
>> It is.
>> Whereas we are, in this case appropo parens of nothing.
[ crickets ]
>> If we are not careful, we're gonna have to come up with a new category called toilet tech, cause you know.
>> Oh dude, I already can hear the awesome sound effect for that.
>> So can I.
>> Right?
>> I wonder what it would be.
>> I think next week it will in fact be -
>> Someone brushing their teeth? No, no.
>> Someone drinking a glass of water.
>> A beautiful robin?
>> No.
>> A beautiful robin singing a song in the springtime?
>> Cooking chili? Maybe.
>> Hmm, how about putting on shoes. The sound of brewing coffee?
>> Oh my favorite.
>> I do love that sound. Anyway. So for today at least, until next week it is simply appropo parens of nothing.
^M00:20:02
But I don't care people, I am obsessed with fancy toilets. And the king of fancy toilets -
>> King daddy.
>> - is Toto.
>> And it is daddy, because if it's a toilet it has to be male.
>> Yeah.
>> And you know.
>> Toto -
>> Cause you people spend way more time on them than we do.
>> Toto has brought a superior as device puts it, superior remote control butt washing and drying features. They have -
>> I wonder if that's in the marketing.
>> They have an oscillating and a soft wash, they have multiple nozzles for correct placement, they're anatomy appropriate. And now they have new TVs, the Neo Rest SE and the Neo Rest LE that lift the lids automatically when you approach, and close the lids when you're done, so you have no hands access to it. Of course the comfortably heated seat.
>> Wow.
>> And they have a tornado flush, which cleans out -
>> Is that for after the tornado?
[ laughter ]
>> Don't they think about it when they name these things?
>> After you have had, and I apologize for my language here, an ass-plosion -
[ laughter ]
>> - the tornado flush takes care of all the leftovers.
>> Of the area.
>> The leftovers in the bowl.
>> The toilet area.
>> Molly, you're being so obtuse, can you be a little bit more specific about what you're talking about? Cause I think our listeners might not get it.
>> I cannot.
[ laughter ]
>> What I want to know is do they know who you are? Can they find out who you are when you're walking towards the toilet -
>> Yeah, exactly.
>> - and then adjust the sprayer accordingly? Cause I imagine the anatomy would be -
>> Well, and if it's you know, if it's lowering the toilet seat -
>> Oh, both lids?
>> - and opening the toilet seat?
>> Right, right.
>> It's almost like you have to have like a keychain.
>> I was gonna say, it should come with a smart key, like a boy smart key and the girl smart key.
[ laughter ]
>> It could have an alarm on it too.
>> That's so awesome.
>> You are so good, wow.
>> Wow.
>> I've heard many toilets, and their alarms go off, so yeah.
>> You have, apparently.
>> This, I'm just saying though, this is what I love about the Japanese. They are a very, very pragmatic people.
>> And also a very clean people.
>> And reserved, and very clean. So and as reserved and kind of fussy as you think they might be, like you think they would never discuss the issues of the leftovers. They have thought of everything.
>> Yeah.
>> They have thought of everything.
>> Yeah, I would say, I would venture to say Japan -
>> I am importing one of these.
>> - is almost worth going to just to visit their toilets.
>> Dude, it is.
>> I heard -
>> The first video I posted from Japan was a video of the toilet in my hotel room.
>> Really. So they're all just kind of -
>> Oh hell yes.
>> Extra deluxe?
>> Yeah.
>> Yes.
>> You've never seen a toilet -
>> I would love to have something like that in my house.
>> Well no, because one of the other toilets that I visited in Japan was the hole in the ground.
>> Right.
>> They have all the extreme toilets.
>> Their toilets have a wide dynamic range, but at the top it's pretty awesome.
>> At the top it's pretty amazing. But even when you come out of the hole in the ground stall, it's in the stall, and then there's a vending machine with wet wipes.
>> Really?
>> Yes, they thought of everything.
>> I have heard a rumor that that's actually better for you, to use the hole in the ground toilet.
>> Oh really?
>> Because it develops the right muscles, the squatting muscles.
>> Oh, okay.
>> They're apparently very good to develop, and it's kind of more natural that way.
>> Good to, oh, okay.
>> Maybe the chat room or someone else -
>> I'm not doing that, but.
[ laughter ]
>> Maybe someone can tell me if I'm wrong.
>> Instead I'll just go to the gym.
>> I want to -
>> Yeah, I'll just do squats at home, and cagles.
>> I want to confirm or dispel a rumor here, while we're here. Cagles.
[ laughter ]
Thanks for bringing that on home Molly. Thank you.
>> You started it.
>> I know, I did, and I'm gonna finish it too with this one question. Is it true that in Germany the toilets have shelves so they can inspect things after they -
>> What?
>> Shelves?
>> Someone told me that there is a toilet that is perhaps popular, perhaps not popular, in Germany that has a shelf in it.
>> Shelf inside it or outside it?
>> Oh.
>> Inside it.
>> So that it stays above the water line.
>> So that inspect -
>> And you can check it out?
>> Inspect and -
>> Yes.
>> - make sure that everything's okay?
>> Yes.
>> Wow.
>> Is this possibly true?
>> I've never heard of that.
>> The chat room says yes.
>> See?
>> But it's far from common.
>> Okay, it seems a little weird to me.
>> Only the most -
>> Little bit.
>> - anal.
[ laughter ]
>> Oh boy.
>> That was good.
>> Okay, let's get ourselves out of the toilet.
>> Well done, and let's move on.
>> If at all possible.
>> Let's move on to a little bling Rx.
^M00:24:55
[ music ]
^M00:25:03
>> Sorry.
>> Thank you.
>> That music actually couldn't be more appropriate for today's bling Rx. And by the way, thank you to Fernando for sending this along. From Auto Blog. Now if you were gonna bling anything -
>> Maybe you'd bling a BMW, maybe a Mercedes, perhaps you know, a really -
>> A Jag.
>> A Jag.
>> Paris Hilton's car.
>> Yeah, totally.
>> But a Chevrolet Captiva? Did you even know that existed?
>> No.
>> Well let's describe it for those of you, let's say 99% of you who've never actually seen this car before. It looks to be sort of a hybrid SUV, small SUV.
>> Yeah. You know what it is? It's a Saturn View.
>> Yeah, totally. It's a Saturn View.
>> Yeah, same company, you know, whatever, you know, whatever, same builders.
>> Yeah, it's not a particularly bling worthy car.
>> It's not pretty. So I guess they thought well, if you're gonna do anything with a Chevy Captiva, you might as well decorate it with [inaudible].
>> For some reason.
>> Of course.
>> I love what they say in Auto Blog that it looks like someone's got a serious addiction to the Bedazzler, cause it's really, it's really true.
>> That's exactly what it looks like.
>> Like someone was like you know, on late night TV and was like oh the Bedazzler, yes.
>> I can use that on my Captiva.
>> And now they're getting blogged for it, which kind of blows my mind.
>> Well it's from a car show.
>> Yeah.
>> They blinged the lights, which I assume would only be blinding, right? Then if the lights come on, like the ring around the headlights is blinged, and then it looks like maybe there's some bling along the door, and then the door handles.
>> The wheel, the rims, the wheel.
>> The rims and the thing. It's from, wow. And I think it is, what it is is a show vehicle from BlingMyThing.com, which let's not get too -
>> Let's not go there.
>> Let's not go ahead and bling our thing, shall we?
>> Yeah.
>> Yes, we've been blinging our things for too long.
>> Blinging a Captiva, not gonna do it, nope.
>> It won't help the Captiva by the way.
>> That's not gonna make me buy American.
>> No.
>> The bling.
>> Please, please, other auto makers, if there are any of you left, please don't.
>> Thinking about it? Don't do that.
>> No, seriously.
>> And speaking of what the hell, it's time for What the Hell.
>> Gender gap edition.
>> What's up?
>> Wazzup?
[ scratching ]
>> So this is the gender gap edition, because this little MP3 player that we're about to talk about, Jason's first reaction was oh God, how ugly, and mine was oh how cute.
>> Almost immediately afterward.
>> Yeah.
>> Like the same time.
>> Without skipping a beat.
>> Almost simultaneous, and I was like gender gap.
>> There was never a better gender gap.
>> Oh it was beautiful.
>> I don't know, this thing is pretty ugly.
>> Oh I love it.
>> It starts with, oh okay, well here's what it is. It starts out as what the hell, at least in my opinion, because it's the CJ7 MP3 player, not that you would ever know that from looking at it.
>> No.
>> Because it looks like a little doggy type troll doll on top of a -
>> Of a like a four legged Gumby.
>> Or a teeter totter, yeah. Four legged Gumby with a doggy head on top, and then it is actually an MP3 player with speakers.
>> And I can hear half of you go oh that sounds really awesome, and the other half going oh God, that's terrible.
>> But it's got this little brownie -
>> I love the brownie face.
>> I'm taking a little poll in the chat room. Ugly, WTF, tribble, eww.
>> Whatever people.
>> Terrible thug, absolutely not, horrible. Okay, most of them are men, but even Rotess [assumed spelling] say ick.
>> Where are the ladies? Where are the ladies in the chat room? Come on, speak up.
>> Dude, you're crazy.
>> Oh man.
>> You're crazy girl, cause this thing, what in the hell, who even thought of this? And then if you enlarge it -
>> Oh two, there's two, there's three. Oh.
>> Oh you're just baiting them.
>> That's right.
>> Chipmunk84 says am I not manly if I say it's cute? All right.
>> You're sensitive.
>> There are a few of you. But mostly, I have to say it, what the hell, it's eighteen dollars.
>> Well there you go. I mean -
>> Which explains the caliber of stitching around this creature's mouth. It looks like a gremlin.
>> It does look like a gremlin. And what is wrong -
>> What was that Gremlin's name?
>> - with a gremlin. I don't know.
>> You know, jub jub. I know it wasn't jub jub.
>> What was that gremlin's name?
>> Oh man, why can't I remember? Gizmo.
>> Gizmo.
>> Right, how could we forget of all the things.
>> Gizmo.
>> Thank you generic user. You got there first.
>> Nice. All right. As so often happens when we do What the Hell, it is followed quickly by Kill Me.
^M00:29:27
[ music ]
^M00:29:33
>> This, okay. Thank you to all of the people who sent this in. I saw it -
>> And there were many of you.
>> And there were many of you, and I saw it all over the web, and indeed it made me completely furious.
>> It made me le vomit.
>> It made me le vomit. It's actually like Kill Me Paris edition, because only a French woman could be tricked into thinking that the way to live happily is to inhale chocolate.
>> I think the French should sue over this product, which is called Le Whif.
>> Le Whif.
>> Le Whif.
>> Le Whif.
>> Le Whif.
>> I cannot imagine that a people so inspired by food would create a product that smells like chocolate, but isn't, and that's it.
^M00:30:14
>> Yeah, what a rip-off.
>> That's just it. So you buy this little product -
>> The point of chocolate is to eat it.
>> You buy this product and then you inhale it, and it smells like chocolate, and then you don't need to eat. Now if I inhaled chocolate that would make me want to eat it.
>> Want to eat it, yes.
>> So it's dumb.
>> Or it would make me want to puke. Like chocolate isn't about smelling, chocolate doesn't smell that good up close, like it has that kind of sour, I don't know.
>> No.
>> I mean like melting chocolate maybe, but a revolutionary new way of eating chocolate?
>> No, wrong.
>> Le Whif.
>> This isn't eating.
>> And then if you go -
>> You can't say by smelling something it's eating, can you?
>> No, it's not eating. And then they, it's a terrific way to curb your appetite or to accompany coffee.
>> Oh whatever.
>> New culinary innovations that involve eating by breathing are being developed at the food lab at [inaudible], the health and science innovation center in central Paris.
>> No.
>> No, eating by inhaling is way too matrix to me, and I'm not doing it.
>> Yeah, seriously.
>> Suck it Le Whif.
^M00:31:15
[ background music ]
>> Ooh there's video.
>> Ah oui, ah oui. Random person trying the Le Whif says ah oui.
>> And they're like oh yeah, it did smell like chocolate, I think I'd like to eat some.
>> Do you have any chocolate on you?
>> Dude kill me if I have to live in a world where I can only Le Whif my chocolate.
>> Yeah, no kidding.
>> I love that these people just look like they're I don't know.
>> They're like oh -
>> Well in these days of chocolate shortages, we need to be careful, cause we might burn through all of the world supply of chocolate.
>> You're right.
>> It's really true.
>> And we might only be left with Le Whif.
>> You know what?
>> When it comes to that, you know, all of our food might have to be inhalable eventually.
>> Wow.
>> So Le Whif is really an environmental statement, it's about conservation.
>> Yeah, or conservation.
>> Save le chocolate.
>> Ah mondier, save it.
>> Whif it.
>> And finally what often follows Kill Me, because they're closely related, is Fug.
^M00:32:09
[ music ]
^M00:32:17
>> Oh by the way, I was cracking myself up thinking whif it real good.
[ laughter ]
>> What?
>> Whif it, whif it good, whif it real good.
[ laughter ]
>> Oh my goodness.
>> Okay. Anyway, sorry back to the Fug.
>> When the chocolate comes along, you must whif it.
[ laughter ]
>> I love it. Okay, sorry.
>> When the chocolate is gone, all you do is whif it.
>> All you do is whif it.
>> Anyhow. Boy I don't even know -
>> You must whif it.
>> I don't know how to segue from that.
>> I don't either. Okay, back -
>> I'm gonna break it.
>> Back to the Fug.
>> Yeah, back to the Fug. Okay, so from fake chocolate to fake crocodile I guess.
>> Yes.
>> Right. Okay, so Sony's crocodile skin Vaio. Apparently Molly thinks this is a thing.
>> Go ahead and pause the podcast, and then replay that in your brain. Sony's fake crocodile skin Vaio. Yep, that just happened.
>> Yeah, pink.
>> Pink.
>> Vaio.
>> Vaio.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Crocodile skin.
>> Which could make this a pink watch, but it's so fugly that it's really a Fug.
>> It's all the way to Fug. I do think crocodile skin is back, I think it's a thing, I even put it on the It's a Thing blog on Twitter. Twitter.com/itsathing.
>> It's [inaudible] that this would be a thing.
>> Cause you know why, the eighties are back.
>> Yeah.
>> The eighties had some good things.
>> And crocodile skin was like an eighties thing.
>> The eighties had new wave and skinny ties.
>> Yeah, those are back.
>> Yeah, and crocodile skin.
>> Okay, skinny ties are better than crocodile.
>> Skinny crocodile ties now, I don't know if that's been done yet.
>> A whole Vaio.
>> That kind of blows my mind.
>> The whole entire Vaio in pink -
>> Yeah, that's pretty [inaudible].
>> - in slow pink crocodile skin.
>> Does it even serve a purpose? Like does it protect the PC at least?
>> It's fake first of all.
>> Okay.
>> We shouldn't, everyone should know -
>> There are no pink crocodiles.
>> No pink crocodiles actually were killed.
>> No.
>> It's plastic.
>> Yeah. It's the Vaio owner made edition, you can get it in brown, red, or pink crocodile skin. It will be available on April 18th in Japan for one thousand twenty four dollars.
>> Oh Japan.
>> I hate it.
>> Wow, you pay a price for the crocodile.
>> Oh Japan, you are so clean, and yet you create such terrible laptops sometimes.
>> You are so odd, so so odd.
>> Yes, indeed. What more can be said about this laptop.
>> Not really much.
>> Probably, I mean yeah. Go have a look.
>> Yeah, just go -
>> Look and cry.
>> And send us your opinions, maybe you think it's pretty. Leslie Katz [assumed spelling], who I do respect and who has wonderful fashion sense, over at news.com, said that she liked it, she was strangely drawn to it.
>> Really?
>> Mm-hmm, yeah. And I mean she is stylish, so I was like uh oh, what am I missing about this, but I don't care. To me, it's Fug.
>> Yeah.
>> Fugalicious.
>> Fugaroonie.
>> Moving on to our emails, Doctor Carl wrote in and gave us the entree that we needed to talk about the Puma, by writing fail. I've already attempted to love tap people in smart cars, those are air quotes in case you're wondering. But me thinks being one of those in the wild would push me over the edge, and he links to a gizmo and we've got a post about it on the Crave glob too with Wayne Cunningham going for a little ride.
>> Come on Doctor Carl, I like the Puma, it's cute.
>> In the Puma. Yeah, it's cute for like at your -
>> Is this another gender gap?
>> Cute for a golf cart.
>> Yeah, it's kind of golf cart like.
>> This should not be on the road, you would die. Anyway, it's a collaboration. In case you hadn't heard, everybody's heard about the Puma by now, but just FYI, it's a collaboration between Segue and GM, which I know sounds like the weirdest thing ever.
>> It does.
>> But it's real.
>> But what if they made a lane for these cars, you know?
>> That is what -
>> What if everybody had one of these things?
>> That's what everyone said was gonna happen with the Segue.
>> Oh yeah, obviously.
>> Build cities around it.
>> Yeah, everybody's gonna have one of these soon.
>> But you have to stand on the Segue, and no one wants to stand in America, everybody wants to sit. That is my theory about -
>> That's true, it's a good point, it's a good point.
>> - why the Segue didn't work. I mean that and the price.
>> Cause no one wants to stand, that's a good, that's a very interesting point.
>> We are lazy people.
>> That's why scooters didn't take off.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> I'm sorry, this is a death trap, and I feel the same way about the smart car, and you can accuse me of being unenvironmental, but I think that that is, I don't want to die in that thing.
>> I think you are a classic -
>> The Puma -
>> - truck aficionado.
>> - doesn't even have doors I believe. Actually the other day Brian Cooley called me a four wheel drive epicure, which I think might be the best compliment I have ever been paid.
[ laughter ]
I was like that's awesome. But seriously. Well for one thing, the Puma doesn't even have doors. Death trap.
>> Yeah, didn't we learn anything from the old Jeep?
>> Yeah.
>> Well you know there are a lot of places in the country where this would be a totally viable -
>> Yeah.
>> - thing.
>> Like the hallways here at CNET.
>> Towns.
>> Golf courses.
>> Smaller towns that don't have a lot of traffic. I mean maybe they're not so good for giant cities. Maybe they're good for you know -
>> Oh I think they're probably better for cities actually, cause things move a little slower. And at least we have some bike lanes.
>> Yeah.
>> But then it's like what's gonna happen to the bike people, I don't know. I don't know.
>> And what about the inline skating people, right? What about those people?
>> They could be killed by a passing Puma.
[ laughter ]
>> Not inline skaters, you know, like they're not appropriate on the sidewalk, they're not appropriate on the bike lane.
>> Oh poor them, poor them.
>> There's like nowhere to go.
>> They need their own lane too.
>> They chose the wrong mode of transportation, poor them.
>> They sure did, maybe they should choose a different one.
>> Maybe they should.
>> Poor bresito.
>> Leave that in the parks, how about that, yeah. And -
>> Next.
>> Next. Dean in Des Moines. Dean in Des Moines.
>> I wish you had an advice question for us.
>> I know. Dean in Des Moines says okay, grilled peeps. I've never tried this on a gas grill, but it works well on a charcoal grill. After you finish cooking on the grill, you let the coals cool to a low heat, throw the peeps on the grill for a few minutes on each side, you should get a sweet smell of caramelized sugar, pull them off, and enjoy. I've been doing this for years, and everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I love them, you will too.
>> I will love them.
>> I will not.
>> How could you not love it?
>> I appreciate this.
>> It's like a toasted marshmallow, that's all it is. This is a roasted marshmallow.
>> I hate marshmallows.
>> What?
>> Really?
>> Hate them. They make me gag, they totally make me gag.
>> Really?
>> Wow.
>> Yeah.
>> Not even when you're like camping and the smores thing?
>> It's a texture thing, I hate them, hate them.
>> Oh wow, well you were the wrong one to read that email.
>> I know, cause I was gagging the whole time.
>> I am like drooling.
>> You were drooling, I was gagging.
>> Drool [inaudible].
>> My palms got all sweaty, yeah. I appreciate that we got so many responses to our peeps segment last week, I think it was last week. But yeah, that's gross.
>> WW in the chat room says get some graham crackers and some Le Whif and make Le Smores. Because you could get graham cracker crumbs, and then a little Le Whif, and then some peeps dust.
>> And le peep.
>> And then you have Le Smore.
>> Yeah, a virtual smore.
>> Le Smore.
>> Le Smore, it is so American. And even more in peep news, maybe you should read this one Molly, cause you're you know, into peeps or whatever.
>> I was pretty excited about this one. Let's see, Jean writes in and says -
>> Or Jean.
>> Or Jean, I know, it's wicked, I had the France [inaudible]. Jean or Jean writes in and says I just got up with the latest episode of Gadettes, was so happy to hear all the peeps love, and sent us a link to peepresearch.org, a site that she thought we would love. As a scientist myself, says Jean, or Jean, he or she, I have to admire the dedication of the scientists who performed these detailed studies, and their ability not to eat their test subjects before the experiments began. If you check out nothing else on the site, be sure to read the section containing some very frightening studies on the effects of smoking and alcohol on peeps health. It should serve as a cautionary tale for young peeps everywhere.
>> This is a really funny site. Especially the -
>> This site is hilarious.
>> Especially the image of a peep smoking a cigarette is pretty awesome -
>> Yeah.
>> - I have to say. Not something that I would have ever thought to -
>> It's friggin awesome is what it is. It's got the basic science in terms of peep research, their reaction to cold, heat, solubility testing, and low pressure environments. And then of course, risk analysis, investigating the effects of smoking and alcohol. Turns out that smoking, fine for peeps. Peeps can smoke with no adverse effects.
>> Though as with human beings, they do look a little bit silly.
>> They do look a little silly, and you probably don't want to eat the peep after it's smoked a cigarette.
>> That may be true.
>> It smells like ashtray.
>> Yeah.
>> But when you combine alcohol, and it looks like you know, actually one hundred proof like rubbing alcohol, and peeps, and a cigarette, well disaster ensues.
>> Then you have marshmallows roasting over a fire.
>> Then you have toasted marshmallows for sure. In conclusion, the synergistic effect of smoking and alcohol on peeps produces a rapidly exothermic oxidation reaction, leading to a chemical and morphological divergence from the wild type peep phenotypes.
>> Oh.
>> In other words.
>> In other words, don't eat it.
>> Don't eat it.
>> Gross.
>> I love this. Assistant lab members described those divergent peeps as quote, less sweet, crunchier, and gross when compared to the peeps which used either alcohol or tobacco, but not both.
>> Gross. And gross.
>> I love -
>> That's on the form that's already on there. Gross, wire and -
>> That's outstanding.
>> That is.
>> Icor wants to know where the tensile strength tests are.
[ laughter ]
>> Very deep within the research somewhere.
>> Peeps are superior to other members of the species when it comes to tensile strength.
[ laughter ]
Oh internet, I love you.
>> Internet. Make me proud.
>> There's a website for everything.
>> So true.
>> There is, there is.
>> Angie writes in and says after listening to Gender Gap from Friday, April 3rd, I sent it on to my sister. She has two boys who would love it in their bathroom, I think she's talking about what, there was a toilet -
>> The bombs away.
>> The bombs away in the toilet, that's right. And she sent me a picture of what she has already done in her toilet, and I'll post a link in the show notes, but here you are for the video.
>> So basically it is, yeah, it's a toilet with a bulls eye, which every man, young and old, could really use, if you know what I mean.
>> A bulls eye.
>> Okay.
>> A target.
>> I see. So she's trying to you know, get the kids to aim for the back wall, not in the water, because the water will splash up. The problem with the location however, is that if they are not very accurate, they run the risk of hitting the lid on the top, the outer surface area, which can do a lot of damage, a lot of damage to the tile floor, the rest of the toilet.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm just saying. I would probably take that target and maybe lower it a little bit.
>> Yeah.
>> A little bit closer to the water line.
>> Maybe, so there you go Michelle, scooch that on down just a tiny bit, Michelle's Angie's sister. Scooch the target down.
>> Just a little bit.
>> Just a scoch.
>> You don't have to be a bad -
>> Just a tish.
>> Or Angie's sister, just write in and tell us how it's working out for you.
>> Yeah actually, I'd like to know how it goes.
>> How about that? I would like to know, cause I might use the same thing. Though I'll have somebody else actually put it on the toilet, cause I ain't touching that thing.
>> I'm not touching the toilet, no. And Gender Gap by the way, is happening in the chat room as we speak, because a lot of the dudes are like what, no point values? Like I don't understand. We need a leader board.
[ laughter ]
>> I love it, there totally should be points in there.i
>> Oh you dudes, what would we do without you?
>> Oh you dudes and your insistence on scoring each other, and scoring and things.
>> Actually you know at the fair, the carnival, they have those games where -
>> Oh with the clown?
>> - the clown's head and the balloon top, and you shoot the water gun into the mouth? That would make it perfect.
>> That would be awesome.
>> Wow, can you imagine having a clown, just a clown in the back of your toilet?
>> Eek.
>> And a built in -
>> A creepy clown, eek. In the middle of the night, that would cut down on the nighttime visits to the potty, I'll tell you what. You got a little bed wetting problem at your house.
>> I have a friend who is so afraid of clowns, that if she were to open the toilet seat and find a clown on the back of her toilet, she would perhaps die.
>> Whoa.
>> You know there are those people with the clown problems?
>> There are those people.
>> Oh yeah, oh yeah, I understand.
>> I don't really have that, but yeah.
>> You're down with [inaudible], the clown on the back of the toilet is pretty much -
>> The problem with that plan is that you never want the balloon to actually explode.
>> Ohh.
[ laughter ]
>> And on that note.
>> There is no note after that note.
>> And on that note should be a segment actually.
[ laughter ]
>> I know, that's a good idea.
>> It's time to end the show. Oh yeah, we need some sounds for that. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. If you would like to email us your thoughts on clowns and toilets, our email address is gadgettes@cnet.com. If you would like to post a comment about clowns and toilets on our blog when this episode goes up, you can find the show notes, all the links of the things we talked about, and of course all the current and past episodes at gadgettes.cnet.com.
>> That's right.
>> And keep those sweaty palms dry people.
>> Words to live by. Bye bye.
>> Bye bye.
>> See you all later.
^M00:45:24
[ music ]

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